Naruto: Hollow Heart
by 10TailedKishinAsura
Summary: The Revamp of Naruto: Konoha's Witch Doctor. The pain in his heart was too much. So he decided that no one would ever feel his pain again. Dark/Insane/Bloodline Naruto Bleach and Soul Eater Elements. Placed in Narutoverse. Not a Godlike story.
1. Chapter 1

**12 years ago**

The sky over Konoha was bathed in an orange glow as fires burned within the hidden village. In the heart of the village, a great beast roared, standing proud amongst the destruction.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune, the 9 tailed demon, and the greatest of the Bijuu.

Across the town, in a small hidden cottage on top of the Hokage's monument stood a man, his blonde hair being powdered white with soot.

Minato Namikaze. The Yellow Flash. The Yondaime Hokage. Father of... twins.

Yes, in each arm, Minato held a single child, each taken from his wife mere moments ago. A boy in his left arm, a girl in his right.

The only distinguishing feature each of them had was their hair. The girl's was a red like the Kyuubi's miasma, the boy's a startling white. The midwife, Biwako Sarutobi, whife of Hiruzen Sarutobi, had said that the boy's hair was an early sign of albinism, but when he opened his eyes, it was clear that he wasn't merely albino. The startling green eyes had gazed around without fear upon his family as he was held to his mother, Kushina Uzumaki. They held a gleam of almost... pride in seeing all those he would ever trul hold dear together in one room in love and nurture.

What he didn't know, was that it would be the last time.

Minato had known of the possibility that the 9 tails would break free during the birth of the children (as Kushina had been the jinchuriki). To prepare for the possibility, a series of seals designed to eventually transport the Kyuubi into it's new host, which would unfortunately have to be one of his children.

Minato sighed, placing Naruto on the ground and Narumi on the preconstructed seal diagram at his own feet. As the diagram began to glow, a startled Narumi began to cry, and the Kyuubi in the distance roared in seeming defiance, before he was absorbed into the seal that had been placed at the place most likely to be the target of a rampant Kyuubi's rage: the Hokage Tower.

A series of seals lit the streets of Konoha, unnoticed amongst the fire and the soot that fell like snow.

And as the fresh seal cooled on Narumi's stomach, Naruto let out a single, solitary tear... almost as though he knew of what was to come.

* * *

 **Present**

"Iru... Iruka-sensei?" A white haired boy held the head of his unresponsive teacher in his lap.

The man had good reason to be unconscious, having just taken a demon windmill shuriken to the back in order to protect the very student who now held him like he was his last lifeline.

"We did it sensei... wake up. We did it. We beat him sensei... Sensei?"

No response came from the chunin instructor who's life had swam out in the river of blood, and drowned in the pool of red beneath them.

"Sensei please! Stop playing with me sensei... sensei wake up. Sensei?"

Tears began to stream down onto the chunin's face as Naruto felt his young heart break inside of him. After everything that had happened this eve, after the conflict with Mizuki, after stealing the Forbidden Scroll, it had seemed like they had finally won. But the cost... the cost was just too high for him to pay.

Naruto laid Iruka's head down on the grass and stood to his full height. He took off his slightly torn, blood stained orange jacket and laid it over Iruka's body in a way that it covered his head. With his head down, he grabbed the Forbidden Scroll and began to walk deeper into the forest in the rain, leaving two dead Chunin.

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

"Sensei?"

Iruka looked down at Naruto as he walked him through the slums to his apartment. Why the boy had been allowed to live alone in the slums he would never know, but it was better than homelessness.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Why do we need ninja?"

Iruka looked back at the road in front of him, giving it some thought."Naruto, ninja are beings of will. We exist to fight, bleed, and die for what we love."

Naruto looked down, whispering just under the volume Iruka could decipher,"But I have no one to love."

 _ **Flashback End**_

* * *

Naruto sat in a clearing over a hundred meters from where he left Iruka and Mizuki, under the largest tree he could find. His green eyes were once again dull, much like they were during his period in the darkness of the slums.

They scanned the scroll relentlessly, looking for anything that could be potentially useful. Naruto knew that there would only be so long before the Hokage found him and took him back to the village. When he got there, there would be no Iruka. Nobody to protect him, nobody to teach him... nobody to make him feel loved. So he would need something that would give him a trump card if civilians started to form mobs against him again, or if any of the kids in the upcoming year in the Academy were to try to usurp him.

What he didn't realize is that there are actually multiple Forbidden Scrolls within each hidden village. The scroll he had was Forbidden Scroll 13X, which contained village secrets directly pertaining to Hokage's and their families.

And so when reading over the scroll, which was generally full of irrelevant information, Naruto came across a particular patch of caligraphy- a seal, he quickly realized- that was labeled Uzumaki.

Even in his state of emotional numbness, with fresh tear tracts drying permanently into his pale skin, Naruto was innately curious. It was that curiosity that drove him to apply his own blood on to the seal and add in chakra. What was expelled from the scroll was another scroll.

The scroll was much smaller, however. Small enough that Naruto was able to quickly shove the scroll into his pants as he stood due to rustling in the bushes.

A grim faced Hiruzn stood there, alone, in his robed and distinguished glory. As soon as he looked at the pained look in Naruto's eyes, he opened his arms and received the boy as he sobbed into his chest.

* * *

That night found Naruto sitting on his living room floor with a headband sitting on his table. The scroll lay off to the side, bereft of it's contents. What were its contents?

Books.

Numerous enough for Naruto to make stacks. From what Naruto could tell, the books covered everything from the Uzumaki clans genealogy to ninja techniques that were specifically designed for the clan.

But what he held closest to himself were what shocked him beyond the realization he had living family.

First was a journal, a compilation of notes of Mito Uzumaki that had apparently been noted in by one of the most notorious traitors in Konoha history: Orochimaru of the Sannin. It wasn't just a journal on Uzumaki history.

The Hollow Bloodline: The Darkside of Uzumaki History.

The book had fallen open in Naruto's attempt to organize the stack, and what he had read had disturbed him, Apparently, his green eyes and white hair were the sign of a bloodline of immense power that only appeared every few generations within the Uzumaki family. However, the bloodline was associated with a single event in which over 200 people were massacred by an insane Uzumaki who allowed himself to be consumed by its power.

The second thing he found was a picture. It showed a blonde haired blue eyed man with a hair style similar to his own sitting with a red haired woman with purple eyes, both smiling while a red haired girl, who Naruto would say was about 6 sat in between them. The man and woman Naruto could easily recognize. Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, two of the greatest shinobi the world had ever seen. But the girl was young... unknown. That was until he read the letter, the third thing he had found.

It read as follows:

 _Dear Hurizen,_

 _We hope that this letter finds you well. We are just letting you know that we are alive and that we will be starting Narumi's ninja training soon. We hope Naruto is doing well. We shall return in about 6 or 7 years so that Narumi can join the graduating class, and maybe get put on a squad with her brother. We have been conferring with the Toad Summons, who you know have a deep spiritual and natural connection to prophecies, and we have reason to believe both Naruto and Narumi have the potential to be the ones who will bring peace to the world. We do, however, believe Narumi will have a better chance, having access to the Kyuubi's chakra and all. We will not begin teaching her how to use it, however, until her completion of the Chunnin Exams. We have not told her of its existence within her._

 _Love,_

 _Minato and Kushina Uzumaki Namikaze_

 _Ps.: Don't let our son get spoiled from the hero worship! We know letting everyone think he saved them from the Kyuubi was a risky plan, but he can't be the child of prophecy with an inflated ego._

After rereading the twice, checking it for authenticity as best he could, and reading it again, Naruto began to quake in grief, confusion, and rage.

" _They told them I Had Kyuubi. I don't have Kyuubi. How did I survive? Why would they do this? Reason no one loved me. Reason no one helped me. Reason I met Iruka. Reason Mizuki chose me. Reason I killed Mizuki who killed Iruka. Reason Iruka died. Iruka dead. They killed Iruka. It hurts. I'm hurt. I'm broken. I'm... dead."_

And with that thought, Naruto passed out on the floor.

* * *

Naruto woke up standing in what appeared to be a giant reflective bubble. He had enough space to walk around inside, and around him seemed to be a surround theatre style image movie of his life. All his pain, really. It hurt him to watch. It felt like every second was just another open wound.

"Why watch then?"

Naruto turned around, startled by the voice. In front of him stood... him. Except different. Everything about him that was pale and colorless seemed to be a shade of black on this version of himself. And where his own eyes were green, his mirror image had purple eyes.

Naruto was dumbfounded,"Wha-what?"

Dark Naruto smirked,"You've seen this all before, haven't you? Why let it happen again?" He put a hand out, almost like a hand shake.

Naruto looked at the hand,"But... eventually. After it's all cycled through enough times... will we get to the point where someone loves me?"

Dark Naruto sighed, shaking his head,"You know how this plays out."

Naruto turned his head to the side, nodding. He began to reach out for the hand,"I guess I'll just have to learn..."

As the hands connected, dark and light became one, and in their place stood Naruto, but changed. His hair became more ashen, like the soot that fell the night of his birth. On his cheeks, purple lines extended down from his eyes and went straight to his chin. HIs eyes now held black sclera, and the iris was green toward the pupil, but purple as it traveled to the sclera.

"... to love myself."

Then he punched the bubble, and it broke like glass.

* * *

 _ **Believe me. I'm back. Sorry about the whole "ask for beta then forget about fanfiction for months" thing. But here's the rewrite you all wanted (at leat the ones that actually cared about story arc). Enjoy.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto couldn't have arrived to the Academy on time if he had tried. Walking to the only store in the village that sold him clothes was time consuming, and he started out late to begin with, having stayed up all night learning more about what he apparently was.

Hollow.

The word described him in so many ways now. As he walked through the academy doors and past the receptionist who paid him no mind, he briefly wondered if being a ninja was even worth it anymore. There was no more drive in his heart, no passion. It was all... pointless. Almost as if any part of him that believed in anything died with Iruka. After all, ninja were beings of will, of passion, both things he had lost under 24 hours ago.

But as he walked in the classroom, he heard 4 words that made him sure he would be a shinobi.

"Hi! I'm Narumi Namikaze!"

* * *

It wasn't until after teams had been assigned that Narumi got to walk up the classroom steps to the top row, which held her brother and no one else. At the announcement of Iruka's death by Ebisu, a special jounin who had been assigned to help out, the class had gone into pandemonium, with tears being shed even by Kiba. Narumi, not knowing what it would look like to strike up a conversation in everyone's time of grief, decided to wait until the lunch break that was assigned before teams were to meet their jounin senseis.

The boy looked nothing like the pictures that were kept in the families home that had been sent by Hurizen Sarutobi. He wore a loose fitting robe like top with a hood that went to his mid thigh and was a deep mat black. He wore black ANBU style pants underneath and black shinobi sandals. Around his pale, semi-exposed chest he wore bandages.

He was currently leaned back, his eyes closed. The only other occupants in the room being Sasuke and Sakura, Narumi made her move.

 **Flash back (About 5 minutes)**

 _"Now it is time for your team assignments, as your Jounin sensei will be doubling as your grief counsellors. Team one will be..."_

 _"... Team 7 will be Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Narumi Uzumaki-Namikaze under the tutelage of Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze and Special Jounin Kurenai Yuuhi. Team 8 will be Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame under the tutelage of Kakashi Hatake. Team 9 is, at this time, still in rotation from last year. Team 10 will be Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimachi, and Shikamaru Nara under the tutelage of Asuma Sarutobi. All of your sensei are outside, with the exception of the sensei of Team 7, who are currently getting some direct briefing from the Hokage. They will arrive shortly, but please have patience, thank you."_

 **Flash back end**

Narumi looked at her brother intensely, wondering what the best way was to drop the bomb on him that he was directly related to not only 2 of the greatest ninja to ever live, but to her.

But before she could open her mouth, the door was opened, and in walked none other than Kushina Uzumaki and Kurenai Yuuhi.

Kushina was a woman of above average height, being a solid 5'10", with firey red hair and green eyes that contrasted against her pale skin. She wore a green jounin vest over a short sleeved blue shirt, and dark blue anbu style pants and shinobi sandals.

Kurenai was more of an oddity, with pitch black hair and eyes the color of freshly spilled blood. She wore a dress that seemed to consist of a giant bandage and a red sleeve.

"Team 7, report to training ground 3,"Kushina barked out.

"Double time,"added Kurenai.

And then they were gone.

The 4 members of Team 7 seemed to split into teams of 2 in their attempt to get to training ground 3 as soon as possible, with Narumi and Sakura running out of the front door while Naruto and Sasuke hopped out of the second story window.

* * *

They sat in a loose circle in the shade of a few trees.

"So,"Kushina began,"I know that you all just lost your sensei, and I know how hard this can be, but in reality, Iruka just gave you all a final lesson."

Kurenai continued,"The world of the ninja is harsh, and death is a constant. Everyone dies eventually. Everyone takes life eventually."Kurenai paused, as if weighing her next words,"You will take life."

Sakura was the only one who looked visibly worried, and a thin sheen of sweat seemed to settle on her brow. Sasuke and Narumi both just looked more determined. Naruto just... continued to look up at the branches of the tree he was laying leaned against.

"But enough about all that,"Kushina clapped her hands together, dispelling the tension in the air."Let's get to know each other! Let's start with names, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and ambitions. I'll go first! My name is Kushina Uzumaki! I like training and my family. I dislike tomatoes and people who make fun of my hair. My hobbies are training and spending time with my family. My ambition is to be the best kunoichi ever!"

Kurenai spoke up next, though in a little more of a reserved tone," My name is Kurenai Yuuhi. I like to spend time with my friends, and I dislike sexists bigots. My hobbie are training and my ambition is to become the greatest genjutsu master of all time." She pointed at Narumi."You can start."

"Okay! Listen up! My name is Narumi Uzumaki-Namikaze, and I am going to be the first female Hokage! My likes are training and ramen! I dislike vegetables! And my hobbies are training and also training!" So fired up was Narumi, that she failed to realize she had stated the same hobbie twice.

"I guess I'm up next. My name is Sakura Haruno. My likes are...," she looked down and blushed," and my dislikes are Naruto-baka and Ino-pig! My ambiton is to...,"she sent Sasuke, who was paying her no attention, a sideways glance, before looking down,"start a family."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. My likes are training and studying. My dislikes are fools and those who would only hold me back. And my ambition is to kill a... certain man."

Naruto, unlike everyone else who gave their introduction, didn't even move from his position. He merely spoke,"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I don't know what the point of like and dislike are anymore... and I have no ambitions."

Sakura, a little irritated at his lack luster introduction, asked,"If you have no ambitions, than why are you here?"

Naruto pondered the question for a moment, before responding,"To find one."

No one spoke, almost as if letting the words mix with the atmosphere, before Kushina spoke again.

"Alrighty then. Tomorrow, we will begin immediately with training, and in the afternoon we will start with D-Ranked missions! You are all dismissed. Except for you, Naruto an Narumi. You will accompany me to the Hokage's office."

* * *

To the untrained eye, it appeared Naruto was being confronted. He sat in a chair infront of a desk, behind which sat one of the most powerful shinobi to ever live, with a red head on either side.

But the minor details told the true story. Naruto's unworried, apathetic gaze. The sweat that coated the faces of the trio infront of him. All nerves.

Minato began,"Naruto Uzumaki. You have been lead to believe up until this point that on the day of the Kyuubi's attack, your parents died on the front lines, and you were given the last name Uzumaki as a favor by Kushina Uzumaki to her dieing friend, your mother. You were then placed in the orphanage, and have been treated as the hero behind the defeat of the Kyuubi for years, as I chose you to contain the beast... but that is not true."

Naruto continued to gaze soullessly into the eyes of the blonde Hokage, grating at the mans nerves as he continued to speak."You are not, in fact, the child of two selfless and nameless shinobi, but the child of two of the greatest shinobi to ever walk the earth. Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze." Minato gace the boy a smile,"we're your parents Naruto."

Naruto didn't speak, just continued to look at the trio.

Kushina spoke up, hoping her words would trigger a reaction,"Naruto, try to understand, we loved you very much, but for the protection of both you and Narumi, it was best to keep you 2 separate, to minimize the chance of a large scale attack on Konoha by mine own and your father's enemies with a hope of your deaths. We told the people, however, of your heroism."

Naruto's silence finally got to Narumi, who had been ready to burst for a good few minutes," Say something, damn it!"

Naruto just looked at her, before turning back to the Hokage," Am I free to go?"

Minato stuttered in shock,"Wha-What? We just told you we're your family and you ask if you can go!?"

Naruto looked at the man for a moment, before your replying,"You are a genius, aren't you, Hokage-sama? So can you answer me a question,"Naruto leaned forward in his chair,"do heroes live in the slums?"

Kushina was shocked, and the look on Narumi's face was beyond even that. Minato's shock was audible,"The hell does that mean?"

Naruto gave a dry, empty chuckle as he stood up and walked towards the door,"There are somethings you should ask Sarutibi Hiruzen about, Hokage-sama." He stopped, the door open, before turning his head so his eye was visible over his shoulder, half lidded with apathy,"And I'm an orphan. The last Uzumaki." And with that, the door was shut.


	3. Chapter 3

"Dad, if I have to catch that damn cat one more time, I'm gonna turn it to paste with the **Rasengan**!"

Minato chuckled good naturedly at his daughter's angry proclamation, before looking through the mission scrolls that were lined up on his desk"Let me see what I can do... well, you can go exterminate the rats in the corn field again?"

Narumi and Sakura visibly shuttered while Naruto and Sasuke maintained their masks of indifference. Kushina decided to speak up to save her team from another set of chores,"Mina-kun, maybe a little something higher than a D-Rank?"

"I don't know, Kushi-chan. Do you think they are ready?"

Kurenai spoke up,"If I may, Hokage-sama, I do believe they are the most competent of the newly minted gennin. It would be good to test their capacity early, show them what they need to work on."

Minato nodded. In the months 3 months between their graduation and now, Team 7 had proven themselves to be the most efficient of the gennin teams, capable of completing up to 6 D-Ranked missions in a day while also having training missions. "Alright then. I'll have the client sent in for a C-Rank escort mission. I was gonna give it to Team 9... but you all should be able to cover it."

Sasuke and Narumi visibly bristled at the mention of Team 9. Though they had never met any of the gennin on the team, it seemed that they were the standard that they were being held to at all ties. To put it frankly... it was irritating. A knock was heard upon the door to the office, before the door opened.

The man who entered was clearly over the hill. He stood barely taller than any of the kids at 5'4". He had grey hair that was thinning, as well as a goatee that contrasted against his tanned complexion. He wore glasses and the attire of a working class civilian. And he was clearly drunk.

"What the hell? I ask for ninja and I get a bunch of brats? What type of scam is this?!" And he wasn't happy.

Minato looked as if he might laugh as Kushina replied to the man cordially,"Sir, I assure you we can protect you against a few bandits."

Tazuna looked as if he had been struck,"Uh... bandits, yeah. I'll be ready at the gates tomorrow at sunrise. We have a decent amount of ground to cover."

Kushina turned to the group,"You heard the man, you have until sunrise to be at the front gates. Prepare for a few weeks on the road."

The teens filed out.

* * *

Kurenai arrived to the gates early the following day early, just before the sun peaked the horizon. What she hadn't expected was to find Naruto already leaning against a tree by the gate, reading a book bound in black leather that she could not identify. If the yellowing of the pages was to believed, it was at least as old as the Sandaime Hokage.

"You're here awfully early Naruto."

The book snapped shut, and was stowed within the boy's kunai pouch."Nothing better to do, might as well."

Kurenai nodded, giving the boy a quick once over, noticing the bags that seemed to have formed under the boys eyes,"Did you sleep last night?"

Naruto opted not to answer, just shrugging and closing his eyes, resuming the silence that had existed before his sensei's arrival. What she didn't know was that he hadn't slept in the time since Iruka had died. Every time he tried to descend into the realm of sleep, he would be bombarded with images of Iruka's closed eyes, pools of blood, and his jacket over Iruka's body.

So he trained or wandered. He frequented team 7's normal training ground, but he would be lying if he said he hadn't trained in the other grounds every once and a while. The wonderful thing abut the Hollow bloodline was that the spiritual and physical halves of his chakra, reiatsu and ki, existed in his body seperate from his body. As such, his body was free to consume ki for his physical body's needs and his rei went towards the more jutsu-esque things he did. T

As a ninja, though, no chakra was a general no-no. Naruto, as such, kept a small amount of chakra in a pool within himself for chakra control exercises and the few jutsu he deemed necessary for use. It was a shame Iruka would never be able to see him do the basic Bushin...

On the subject of clones, Naruto had discovered something else: the **Shadow Clone** jutsu was far too chakra intensive for his now miniscule chakra pool. As such, he found himself having to learn the **Mud Clone.** It was far less chakra intensive, so he could manage a good 2 or 3 of them without having to combine more ki and rei.

Naruto had also begun to experiment with some of the skills he had seen in the scroll. The only one he had made significant progress on so far was the **Bala**. The move encased his fist in rei, before shooting off a solid projection that was capable of delivering more damage the more he charged it. He wasn't proficient in it, but, he was able to shake the leaves of a tree with his most charged version, which was a little less than what he could do with a well placed kick.

He had also begun to work on the **Cero** , but he had't gained much ground.

It didn't take much time for the rest of group to arrive, and they found themselves on the road pretty quickly in a rather relaxed posture. Sakura and Narumi were chatting with the client, while Naruto and Sasuke walked out front, with Kurenai and Kushina fanned out on the rear.

The walk was pretty uneventful... until they passed a puddle. To Kurenai and Kushina it was clearly a poorly laid trapped. An unpopular road in the middle of the summer? Riiiiiight.

A quick glance conveyed the plan as the chose to ignore it and walked past... until they were both shredded to pieces by a spiked chain.

"S-Senseis!" Sakura cried. Naruto, Narumi, and Sasuke, instead of shrieking like toddlers, jumped into action. Naruto took up a defensive posture in front of the client (and Sakura), while Narumi and Sasuke charged forward to meet the attack of the men the would late know to be the Demon Brother's, two identical men wearing brown poncho like robes with a single claw on the arm set between the two of them connected by a length of chain.

Narumi struck first, going for a flying kick which was blocked, before ducking under a clawed swing and delivering a swift punch to the stomach, before dodging as another claw soared by her face. Sasuke quickly took some of the pressure off,maneuvering in a manner that forced the two masked assailants to go back to back in order to avoid being flanked. The scuffle continued until the brother Sasuke was fighting got in a cheap shot, stomping on his foot and hitting him with an upward elbow to the jaw. He then jumped upward, flipping in the air, which allowed him to kick Narumi into a waiting punch from the second brother, knocking her to a knee. The second brother then turned and kicked the still recovering Sasuke off to the side, and disengaged the lock his glove had on the chain, leaving his brother to deal with the two gennin and moving to charge Naruto.

He opened up with diagonal claw strike, which Naruto leaned to the left of, before kneeing the man in the stomach and dropping an elbow into the back of his neck. The man quickly recovered, sending an elbow into the boys exposed ribs. Naruto grunted, but looped his arm through his attackers, using the leverage he had gained to force the man to the ground and secure his clawed arm behind his back in a way that the hand was digging slightly into the brothers back. He then drew a single kunai from his pouch and buried it into the back of the struggling man's head without a single thought.

Sasuke and Narumi had, by this tie, secured the other brother, ironically wrapping him in his own chain. Kuhina and Kurenai quickly moved from the forest, but the pale as a ghost Sakura chose to ignore them in favor of raising a shaking finger to Naruto as Tazuna took a massive swig of his alcohol to calm his nerves. "Yo-you k-killed him-m."

Naruto stared into her emerald orbs with his own eyes."And the sky is blue."

Sakur got a little upset,"You had him subdued! He couldn't hurt anybody the way you were holding him! But you killed him!"

Naruto, not feeling the manner was worth anymore of his time, merely walked passed the girl (making sure to bump past her with his shoulder on the way by) and Tazuna, who stepped out of the way to give the homicidal teen a wide berth. Kushina and Kurenai then went into a long speech about how they disappeared to let the gennin "test" themselves against two chunin level opponents, and how Naruto's action were justified, and blah blah blah. Naruto didn't really care if his actions were justified or not. He killed the brother because he needed to die.

Everyone continued to ignore the now crying second brother, in favor of turning on Tazuna.

Kushina, adding a little killer intent to the atmosphere in order to apply some pressure on the elderly bridge maker,"Tazuna, these are chunin level mercenaries, not bandits. That means this is at least a B-Ranked mission. Judging by how nervous you were in the Hokage's office, I can assume you knew that you would be dealing with hired assassins. So, why did you lie about the mission?"

Tazuna, surrounded by accusatory stares, told his story. From Gato's arrival, to the death of his son in law, to the strangle hold on the small fishing town."...I'm sorry I lied and put you all in danger... but please,"the man fell to his knees, hands clasped as the man begged for his life,"you all were all I could afford. If I could finish the bridge, we could cut off Gato's hold on us. Then, I could pay you for the B-Rank. Or an S-Rank! Please, just help this old man save his home."

Kushina looked at Kurenai, who did a minute shrug, before sighing and turning to the team, all of whom were looking at her inquisitively,"Alright, we can either turn back or finish out this mission. Now, keep in mind that we will encounter more danger if we continue."

Narumi stepped forward, conviction burning in her eyes,"Mom, we got this!"

Sasuke 'hn'ed an affirmative,"This is a rare opportunity to push ourselves against opponents that are stronger and more experienced. We have to do this."

Sakura looked downcast while rubbing her am,"Well, I don't want to let the team down...,"she looked up with renewed passion shining in her orbs,"let's go!"

Naruto looked over his shoulder and started slowly walking towards their destination,"Let's just get this over with already."

Kushina smiled kindly at Tazuna and helped the man to his feet,"Looks like you lucked out Tazuna!"

The man looked as if he would break out crying any minute,"Really? Thank you, Kami bless you all!"

And so the journey continued.

* * *

Taking the boat through the early morning darkness, in conjunction to exorbitant amounts of fog, had been slightly unnerving. What was more unnerving was the fog on the path to Tazuna's house. It was easily thick enough to be suffocating, somewhat unnatural. But the team pushed through until they entered a clearing and the fog just... stopped. Like there was an invisible wall holding it back.

"Team 7. formation 4 around the client,"Kushina ordered as she drew her sword, an elegant katana with a blade the color of fresh blood."Kurenai, cover me."

Team 7 surrounded Tazuna in the shape of a loose Trapezoid, with Narumi and Sakura covering the front and Sasuke and Naruto being in the back. Each team member armed themself.

"What do we have here, Ameyuri?" The voice obviously belonged to a man, or perhaps men, because it seemed to echo from nowhere, yet it was filled the clearing.

"Hmm... Konoha's Genjutsu mistress... and the Red Death herself... hefty penny we got hear?" There was a woman as well.

Kushina, fearing for the safety of the children if her hunch on who these voices belonged to was correct, placed her sword in front of herself in a defensive position,"Show yourselves!"

"Should we, Ameyuri?"

?Why not Zabu, it's only fair!"

Two figures emerged from the surrounding landscape, standing directly in front of the group.

And Kushina instantly sighed,"Oh shit biscuits."

* * *

 **So, I'm sure your all wondering what kept me away this time. It's pretty simple: my dumb ass forgot my password. I had relied on autofill for so long that I forgot the password to the account and the attached email. It literally took my dumb ass months to find the note pad I kept the password on. But I'm back. Ima try to have the update for the other main story (forgot the mother loving acronym) by tomorrow, but no promises.**

 **It's Kishin bitch.**


End file.
